Hitting the Right Note
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: After the war, Harry has de-aged himself. Will his new childhood with new friends and foes be better? Completely AU, partly OOC, partly child fic, de-aged!Harry, maybe also sick!Harry, jealous!Ron, nothing for "Ron lovers", set at Hogwarts after the war.
1. Chapter 1

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

**_At the end of the prequel: _**

_"It's all right; we'll somehow manage to raise the dunderhead." Holding out two phials for his colleague, he announced that he'd come back with potions for Harry in a while. "Harry," he cooed to the baby, "you sleep here with Mama. Dada will come and make you all better in a bit."  
__"Kay," Harry replied and tiredly nestled into Hermione's arm, a small thumb wandering into his mouth, as he drifted off to sleep.  
__"It must have been his final straw," Hermione said, sleepily. "I hope Severus and I will manage to give him a happy childhood."  
__"You will," Minerva said in a soothing voice, pointing at Harry, who was wearing a smile on his face, which they had not seen since before the war._

* * *

**Chapter 1**

While Hermione and Harry were asleep and Severus was brewing potions for the baby, Minerva asked the house-elves to make a nursery room and connect it with the living rooms of both Hermione's and Severus' quarters. Later on, she had Poppy check on Harry.

"He's fifteen months and three days old," Poppy informed her colleagues, "so that means that his birthday is September 18th, 1999." She let out a long sigh, before she added, thoughtfully, "I can still see the after-effects of his basilisk poisoning from when he tried to kill himself a few weeks ago. It's not completely gone."

"Excuse me Poppy, but what does that mean for Harry? Or for us? Do we have to do anything about it?" Hermione queried, eyeing the baby in utmost concern.

The Healer shook her head. "No, there's nothing that you can do about it," she said, sighing. "Before he de-aged himself, he was suffering from headaches from the poisoning, and I suspect that it'll be similar now. We can just wait and see."

HP

Three days later on Christmas Eve, Hermione and Harry were both recovered from the Wizard's flu, and a very excited Harry was sitting on the floor in the Great Hall observing the teachers decorate the huge Christmas tree. Each time someone put a new, beautiful ornament onto the tree, he cheered, happily trying to reach for the decoration, which was of course charmed to be unbreakable.

All of a sudden when she put another golden bauble with a group of cats playing with a red ball to the tree, Hermione realised that the baby had not let out any pleased sounds during the last few minutes. She let her eyes wander around the Great Hall to search for the little tyke in confusion.

"Look over there," Luna whispered, pointing to the child, who was sitting right behind the tree, firmly holding a new bauble in his hands.

_'I want it to have a phoenix on it,'_ he thought, intensely staring at the ornament.

In front of the surprised adults, a beautiful water phoenix appeared on the silver ground of the bauble. An instant later, it flashed away only to reappear in a small splash of water.

"How beautiful," Hermione was the first to comment the boy. "Do you remember being a phoenix Animagus when you were big?"

However, Harry merely gave her a bleary look and lay down on the spot, letting out a huge yawn.

"Let's put your bauble onto the tree, will we?" Hermione asked kindly, carefully prying the ornament out of the baby's hand.

"He probably has his older self's magic," Minerva spoke up, thoughtfully. "The problem is that his small body isn't able to handle such an amount of magic. He must be completely knackered."

Hermione gently scooped up the baby into her arms and took a seat at the Head table, from where she watched the others finish the decorations. Harry remained peacefully asleep in her arms until she woke him up in time for dinner two hours later.

HP

Later the same evening, the teachers had tea together in Hermione's quarters, where Harry was asleep in his cot in the nursery.

"Hermione, Severus," Minerva spoke up, letting out a pensive sigh, "have you already thought how to name Harry? We must file his new data with the Ministry of Magic."

"Harry Alexander Granger-Snape," Severus suggested, giving his younger colleague a questioning look.

"That's fine with me," Hermione agreed immediately, returning a small smile.

"If you want, I can try to charm Harry's original birth certificate within the Ministry," Luna Lovegood, the Charms professor, suggested. "That way no one will know who he really is."

"That's a very good idea, Luna," Hermione replied, warmly, giving her friend an appreciative look.

"We should also change his godparents," Severus threw in, quirking an eyebrow. When Hermione returned a questioning look, he suggested, telepathically, 'How about Luna and Neville?'

"Luna and Neville, would you be willing to become Harry's godparents?" Hermione asked quietly, knowing that the couple had always belonged to Harry's good friends.

"Of course," Luna was the first to agree, giving Neville a dreamy look.

"I'd like that," Neville replied, smiling, before he enquired, "What are you going to do with him when classes begin again?"

"We'll just have to take him with us," Hermione replied after a glance at Severus.

"When he'll be three, I'll begin to teach him potions, but until then it'll be safer if you take him with you," Severus spoke up, smirking. "At what age does the primary school at Hogsmeade start?"

"I think it commences at the age of four," Poppy informed him, pensively.

"Well, Poppy and I will always be ready to watch the cutie for a few hours, won't we Poppy?" the Headmistress reassured the young parents. "I could also speak with Andromeda Tonks," she added, thoughtfully. "Teddy Lupin must be about 15 months older than Harry. Maybe I could take Harry there or invite them over sometimes, so that Harry and Teddy can play together."

A few minutes later, Luna handed Hermione a small parchment.

_Name: Harry Granger-Snape  
Birthday: 18 September, 1999  
Mother: Hermione Granger  
Father: Severus Snape  
Godmother: Luna Lovegood  
Godfather: Neville Longbottom_

"It seems to have worked," she said, smiling.

While Severus gratefully inclined his head, Hermione profusely thanked her friend. "Thank you all so much for your support," she said, feeling very relieved at her colleagues' kindness and support.

HP

When their colleagues returned to their quarters, Severus went to check on Harry. Hermione quietly followed her colleague into the nursery.

"Is he all right?" Hermione asked in concern, seeing that Severus spelled a potion into the baby's system.

"Yes. I just gave him a light headache potion mixed with a sip of fever reducer," Severus replied in his soft baritone voice. "He has depleted his magic to a great extent. We must be careful that he doesn't do much magic, especially since he seems to be capable of wish magic."

"Is that how he made the bauble?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Apparently yes," Severus said, smirking, before his expression became stern. "There's something else that I'd like to speak with you about," he continued, motioning her to follow him into his living room.

While Hermione took a seat on the sofa, he made himself comfortable in his favourite armchair and explained, "I'm wondering if we should blood adopt the boy in order to keep him safe from people like Lucius Malfoy."

"Is Malfoy still a threat to Harry?" Hermione asked, horrified.

Severus let out a long sigh. "I know Lucius quite well," he admitted, "and I know that he'd be more than pleased to get back to Harry for his victory over the Dark Lord. As long as Harry was an adult, especially as he was said to be the most powerful wizard in the world and in possession of the elder wand, he apparently didn't dare attacking him. However, if he gets to know that Harry's a baby, he'll most probably try to get his revenge."

"I understand," Hermione said, looking at her colleague in shock. "You're right, we should blood adopt him then, so that no one can recognise him."

"Very well," Severus replied, rising from his chair. "Are you up to assisting me for a little while?"

"Of course," Hermione reassured him, smiling.

Together they headed into the Potions Master's private lab, and an hour later, the blood adoption potion was simmering in a gold cauldron.

"Are you going to give it to him right away?" Hermione enquired, absentmindedly observing how the three drops of her blood mixed with Severus' in the liquid.

"No," Severus replied firmly. "I can't spell it into his system. He has to drink it. Therefore, we have to wait till he's awake in the morning." He glanced at his wrist-watch. It was already past midnight.

"There's something I'd like to give you though," he continued, taking a small phial from a shelf. He handed it to his colleague. "Happy Christmas Hermione."

The younger witch stared at him in disbelief. "Thank you Severus, but what is it?" she asked in confusion. "It looks like the flu potion," she mused aloud, giving him a questioning look only to realise that the Potions Master's face was as expressionless as it could be.

_tbc..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

"It IS the flu potion," Severus finally replied, smirking. "You still need another two doses if you don't desire to get a relapse."

"No no," Hermione replied and quickly downed the potion in a faint attempt to not let him know that she was slightly disappointed. Just for a moment, her heart had been beating faster. _'I don't know what I expected, but...'_ She inwardly sighed, before she replaced the cork, stopping dead in her tracks upon noticing that the phial was not empty.

Instead of the liquid, the phial now contained a parchment. Green letters in Severus' meticulous hand writing asked, _'Will you marry me?'_

She remained stunned for an instant, before she looked up, glancing at him with a combination of surprise, disbelief and happiness.

"Hermione," he spoke up in his soft, baritone voice, "I'd like to ask you to become my wife instead of merely being my son's mother."

Her heart did a huge jump, before she replied, smiling. "I'd love to become your wife."

Severus suddenly looked relieved. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "for neither being inventive nor romantic." With that he pulled a small box out of his robe pocket, opened it and slid a small ring over her ring finger.

Hermione stared at her hand in awe. The ring was plain silver decorated with five small, green stones. "It's beautiful," she breathed. "Thank you so much."

Instead of a reply, he leaned down and carefully pulled her into a long kiss.

HP

When Harry woke up in the morning, he didn't feel well. His nappy felt awkward, his bum hurt, and his head was a little bit sore. His lower lip quivered dangerously, before a small tear escaped his eye. _'I'm not allowed to make a sound or Aunt Petunia will be so angry again,'_ he thought, sadly, longing for his mummy.

However, when he took in his surroundings, he realised that he was not in his cupboard. _'I'm with my mummy and dada,'_ he thought, feeling very consoled. He held on to the rails and pulled himself up into an upright position, before he let out a small wail, knowing that his mummy would surely hear him.

Mere instants later, his mummy and daddy both rushed into his room, through the different doors. His mouth pulled downwards so as to let them know that he was feeling poorly.

"Oh sweetie, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, gently lifting him up into her arms.

In lack of words, Harry merely let out a sniffle, nestling deep into his mummy's robes.

"Put him on the changing table," Severus advised Hermione, causing Harry to wail at the loss of body heat.

Hermione eyed the baby in utmost concern. "Maybe he has a relapse," she said, worriedly. "He feels a bit warm."

Severus pulled his wand and cast a diagnostic spell at the child. "No," he then said, calmingly. "He's running a slight temperature, but it's not the wizard's flu."

While Hermione undressed the baby in order to change his nappy, he cast a series of other spells with no result. "Maybe we need to call Poppy," he said, pensively, just when Hermione let out an uncharacteristic gasp.

"Look at this Sev," she said, pointing at the baby's bum. "How could he get such a rash overnight?" she asked in disbelief.

Severus pondered the matter for an instant, before he replied, slowly. "He must have received this at the Dursleys in his former childhood. At this age, he has already been at the Dursleys for about two weeks, and I know from my Occlumency lessons with his older self that they completely neglected and even abused him, at least verbally. Probably Petunia didn't change his nappy, and that's why he got the rash." Turning to the baby that was lying there naked, shivering, he said in a soothing voice, "Dada will fetch a potion for you and make you all better in a blink." With that he summoned a small glass Murtlap cream, which he had made from Murtlap essence and a soft healing cream in case the baby would need it, as well as a fever reducer for babies.

Two minutes later, Harry was completely fine again and cheering at his parents.

"Do you think we can still give him the blood adoption potion?" Hermione queried, looking at her fiancé in concern.

Severus nodded and asked the child, "Harry, will you take another potion for us? I can't spell it into your stomach, but you have to drink it. All right?" He shortly explained the purpose of the potion, knowing that the baby would not be able to fully grasp the meaning.

"Awwigh," Harry replied, knowing instinctively that he could fully rely on his dada. Only too late he realised how bad it tasted. However, his father firmly pressed the phial against his lips so that Harry could not do anything but swallow the dark red liquid.

Before the child even realised what happened and that his body began to hurt as his limbs changed, Severus unobtrusively spelled a pain relieving potion for babies into his system.

The parents observed with amazement how the boy's features changed just a little bit. When the effects were complete, his hair looked like that of Severus, while his eyes had changed to a mixture of emerald green and chocolate brown, a combination of Lily's and Hermione's eyes.

"He looks gorgeous," Hermione blurted out, turning to the baby. "My, aren't you handsome," she said in a soft voice, gently tickling Harry's feet.

Seeing Harry giggle happily, Severus suggested, "Shall we make an appearance in the Great Hall and see if Father Christmas has brought a present for Harry?"

Hermione agreed, and Severus gave a cheering Harry a piggy-ride to the Great Hall.

HP

After the other teachers first made a fuss about Harry's new look and then about Hermione's ring and the fact that the Heads of Gryffindor and Slytherin were engaged, Severus pulled Harry over to the huge Christmas tree to look for presents. Fortunately, the house-elves had piled all the gifts with Harry's name on them at one place, so that the two wizards could easily find them.

"Let's take them over to the Head table, and then you can open them," Severus suggested, causing Harry to excitedly run ahead in anticipation.

Since all the teachers had read the note that Harry had written before de-aging himself, in which he had asked for a children's book for Christmas, he received books from everyone but his parents. While Severus gave him a 'Toddler's First Potions Kit', Hermione had made a teddy bear for him that was equipped with all possible kinds of charms. Depending on where the baby pushed the teddy, it would change its colour, play several kinds of music or change into various other animals. It was also charmed against dark spells, so that it would keep the baby safe within a distance of three metres. Finally, Hermione had placed a charm on it that made the teddy alert her if Harry was in any kind of danger.

Harry was over the moon with joy. He absolutely loved books and never became tired looking at them. He also adored his new teddy, and wherever Harry was, one could be certain that the teddy was within reach.

HP

The new, small family used the remaining days of the holidays taking Harry out into the zoo and to other fun places within the magical and the Muggle world.

Harry enjoyed himself greatly, and Hermione and Severus observed him contentedly, knowing that he had never been that happy in his former life.

HP

On the last day of the winter holidays, Minerva kept the small family back after dinner. "I have contacted not only Andromeda Tonks but also a few former students," she began to speak, causing her colleagues to look at her in expectation.

"Teddy Lupin is, as I assumed, about fifteen months older than Harry, and Andromeda Tonks would be interested to have him play and study in a group with other magical children and told me she'd prefer for him to be taught here than to attend the primary school at Hogsmeade. George and Angelina Weasley have a son, Fred, who turned one year on November 25. Moreover, Oliver and Alicia Wood have a girl, Antonia, who is just a week older than Harry. Fred and Antonia will both be in the same Hogwarts year as Harry. I asked the parents if they would be willing to have their children join a play and study group here at Hogwarts, and they were also very interested."

"That's fantastic news, Minerva," Hermione said, delighted. "We just need someone to play with them and teach them."

"I might have someone who could take over the position," Minerva said, slowly. "However, I didn't have a chance to speak with her yet." Seeing that her colleagues eyed her in curiosity, she explained, "This must remain between us, but George told me that Ginny isn't happy playing Quidditch professionally and is thinking of retiring. He suggested that I should speak with her about becoming a teacher for the young children at Hogwarts. George and Angelina are expecting their second child by the way."

"I'm so happy for George," Hermione threw in, smiling. "He was so devastated when Fred died. I'm glad that he got together with Angelina and has children now. Let's hope that Harry will be able to become friends with them."

HP

From the following day onwards, Hermione took Harry to class with her. To her relief, Harry was a very obedient and quiet child, who used to remain in his playpen next to her desk looking at his books or napping. When the students fawned over him, he merely smiled at everyone before he went back to looking at his book.

Only from the beginning of the next school year onwards, the Hogwarts preschool group was going to commence.

"I'm glad that it's going to be a small group, at least at the beginning," Hermione said to Severus one day, observing that Harry seemed to be very shy when many students were around him.

"How about inviting the other children here to play once the holidays begin and we have more time?" Severus suggested, quirking an eyebrow. "Maybe it would be good if he got to know them in advance."

"Oh right, that's a good idea," Hermione agreed immediately, only to add, "once our wedding is over."

Severus smirked. "You don't believe that Minerva didn't invite them for our wedding anyway, do you?"

Hermione stared at the Potions Master in disbelief. "Why would she?"

"Because she's inviting everyone who knows us," Severus informed her, rolling his eyes in apparent annoyance. "The Weasleys surely belong to that group."

"Oh well, I don't mind the Weasleys," Hermione replied, thoughtfully. "Maybe except for Ron. He'll be as jealous of you as he was of Harry during all our seven Hogwarts years."

"I agree," Severus stated, dryly. "Ronald is the thickest of all Weasleys."

HP

The day of the wedding was a hot and sunny summer day, the first day of the summer holidays, which gave the students the opportunity to attend the wedding before travelling home for the summer.

After breakfast, when Luna went with Hermione to help her get ready and Neville joined Severus, Minerva motioned Harry to follow her into her office.

Harry smiled. He liked the bright, round office, and he couldn't understand why his parents seemed so excited this morning. Yes, they had explained it to him and his Granny Minerva had too, but still he didn't fully comprehend what the whole ruckus was about - apart from the fact that his mummy had told him she was going to change her name from Granger to Granger-Snape, just like Harry's name was. _'I like that,'_ he mused, losing himself in his thoughts. He was brought back to reality when all of a sudden the fireplace flared and several people stepped out one after the other.

He nestled deeper into his seat, before he took a good look at the people, noticing in surprise that most of them had red hair. Somehow, they felt familiar, but he couldn't place it. He couldn't remember having met them before, but still, he instinctively knew that they were friends.

"Oh my, is he a cutie with Severus' hair and Hermione's eyes," the older woman was the first to notice him. She came over to him and pulled him into a bear's hug.

As soon as she released him, Harry quickly let himself sink down from his seat and toddled around the desk to stand safely behind his Granny Minerva.

"Mum, don't frighten him," a young wizard spoke up, grinning broadly at the little boy. "Harry, I'm George. Do you remember being friends with Fred and me when you were big?"

_'I was big?'_ Harry wondered, unable to comprehend what the man meant. However, he looked nice, and Harry liked him immediately. Before Harry could further ponder the matter, the man pressed something into his hand.

"This is yours, Harry. Take good care of it," he advised him, grinning.

_'What is it?'_ Harry wondered, staring at the parchment in his hand in confusion. "Fanku," he told the man, giving him a genuine smile, even if he had no clue what the gift was that he had received.

Suddenly, a small boy of about the same age as Harry was standing in front of the man. "Look Harry, this is my son Fred," George told him. "I hope that you're going to be good friends."

"Hi Hawwy," Fred said, smiling broadly at the boy.

"Hi Fwed," Harry replied, returning a shy smile. The other boy had red hair like the rest of his family, his face was covered with freckles, and he was wearing a mischievous smile. Harry liked him immediately.

HP

When the Headmistress ushered everyone outside in order to greet the wedding guests that began to arrive on the grounds, Angelina Weasley, who also knew Harry well from her days as a Gryffindor student and member of the Quidditch team, led Fred and Harry to a playground, which Rolanda Hooch had prepared for the children to play on this day. Soon, Fred and Harry were joined by Teddy Lupin and Antonia Wood, and the four children played together as if they had been friends forever.

"Looks like the beginning of a wonderful friendship," Minerva commented, when she came to fetch Angelina and the children, as the ceremony was going to commence shortly. With a flick of her wand, she dressed Harry in green dress robes and instructed him to walk in front of his mummy and daddy.

"Kay Gwanny," Harry replied, smiling, before he pressed the parchment that he had still been grasping firmly in his hand whilst playing on the playground into his granny's hand.

"I'll keep it for you sweetie," Minerva promised, rolling her eyes upon taking a look at the inscription.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments. My muse appreciates them greatly!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

_'Lifelong Voucher for Free Shopping at Weasleys Wizzarding Wheezes'_ it said on the parchment.

"Mr. Weasley, do you find it adequate to give this to a future Hogwarts student?" Minerva asked crisply, as she took the seat next to Fred's father.

George smirked. "Professor, I'm sorry, but Harry owns one third of our shop. This is the least I can do. If not for him and his generosity, the shop wouldn't even exist." He interrupted himself when Hermione and Severus made their appearance and the ceremony began.

HP

Harry obediently walked in front of his parents towards Minister Weasley, who was holding the ceremony. However, all of a sudden, a young wizard stepped into his way, causing Harry to stop dead in his tracks.

"Mione, what are you doing?" the man began to shout at Hermione. "Don't you remember being MY girlfriend? Marry ME and not the greasy git!"

"Ronald," Hermione replied, sighing in exasperation. "I'm sorry, but..."

"No Mione, Harry would want us to get together and raise him, not Snape," the redhead insisted, causing Harry to see red.

With a bout of accidental magic, Ronald Weasley was flung through the air, ending up in the lake.

'Well done Harry,' Severus telepathically commended his son, and while the Giant Squid heaved Ron out of the lake, the redhead's father continued with the ceremony and wed Hermione and Severus.

HP

_'That brat,'_ Ron Weasley thought, grimly, as he hurriedly left the Hogwarts grounds, swearing revenge at his former best friend turned baby.

HP

There's no way that it won't leak out who Harry is," Hermione said to Severus in concern, when they returned to their quarters later the same day. "Everyone asked me about how we could have an almost two-year-old child together, considering that I only finished Hogwarts two years ago."

Severus let out a long sigh. "If they listened to what Weasley shouted at you, they'd have comprehended it anyway," he replied, sighing. "Don't worry about that now dear. Let's enjoy our honeymoon first, and when we're back, we'll think about what to do. Since Harry was a phoenix Animagus in his former life, maybe he'll be able to manage the Animagus transformation at an early age, and being able to transform into a phoenix would be the most efficient way for him to be safe."

_'I'm much more concerned about what Weasley might want to do to Harry,'_ he thought, however, did not voice his thoughts as to not make his wife worry unnecessarily.

"That's true," Hermione replied, contentedly. "When we're back, I'll ask Minerva if she can teach him and how old he should be for the Animagus Transformation. I'm so happy that we're married now and are a real family."

"Mama, dada," Harry interrupted the conversation. Now that he had spent most of the day playing with his new friends, he wanted his parents' attention.

"Harry, are you ready to travel?" Hermione asked, pulling the child close. "We're going to spend a whole week at the seaside from now on. Is there anything you want to take with you?"

Harry looked up in excitement, before he ran into his own room as fast as his small feet would allow him. An instant later, he returned with his teddy in one hand and as many books as he could carry in the other hand.

'He's not going to be a Gryffindor this time,' Severus mind thought to his wife. 'This is a typical Ravenclaw type.'

Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance, before she enquired, "Don't you think it's a bit early to make a bet ten years in advance?"

Severus merely smirked and instructed his family to hold on to the inflatable crocodile that his colleagues had charmed as Portkey to their honeymoon.

HP

The small family spent a whole week at the magical resort. It was Harry's first visit to the seaside, and he enjoyed himself greatly walking through the shallow water together with his parents or trying to build a small version of Hogwarts from sand.

_'It's great to have mum and dad just for myself. At school, they always have to listen to their students,'_ Harry thought, contentedly. Too soon for his liking, the week passed by and they had to travel back home.

HP

Having heard from Minerva how well Harry had played together with the other three children at their wedding, Hermione proceeded to invite Teddy, Antonia and Fred to Hogwarts once a week.

Harry was over the moon with joy on these days and enjoyed himself greatly playing with his friends. Almost every morning, when he woke up, he asked his mother, "Will Fwed, Toni and Teddy come today?"

Hermione inwardly sighed. "No Harry," she told him six times a week. "They come every Tuesday morning." Finally, she put up a calendar in Harry's room, marked all the Tuesdays and told him to check out one day every morning, so that he'd be able to see when his friends were going to come again.

"I can't wait for school to commence," she once said to Angelina and Alicia, when the three former housemates were having tea together, while the children peacefully played with Harry's Duplo zoo.

"Yes, that's true," Alicia agreed, grinning. "Then they can be together every day but the weekends.

"I'm going to miss Fred though," Angelina threw in, chuckling.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "When is the baby due?" she queried.

"In about three months' time," Angelina admitted, before she smirked. "Please see to it that she'll also have two good friends to play with."

_'We really should see to it,'_ Hermione thought. _'It would do Harry good to have a sibling.'_

HP

With the beginning of the new school year, Ginny Weasley moved to Hogwarts as the new teacher for Pre-Hogwarts Education. Since the new preschool class was an experiment for the time being, Minerva had refrained from contacting other parents who might be interested but decided to begin the class with only the four children who had already become good friends.

Knowing that the little tykes were still too small to take a Portkey on their own or travel by Floo alone, their mothers or in Teddy's case his grandmother apparated the children to the Hogwarts gates, where Ginny collected them every morning. Usually, Harry accompanied his teacher to the gates, greatly enjoying his early morning walk.

The house-elves had prepared two so-far unused, adjacent classrooms for the children and connected them. One room was equipped with desks and chairs, while the other was a recreation and play room.

Three of the four children were still under two years old or just only turning two; therefore, Ginny told them stories about the magical world, read to them from children's books or allowed them to draw or play. To Harry's friends' great delight, they were allowed to have lunch in the Great Hall, where Minerva had asked the house-elves to place a children's table right next to the Head table.

After lunch, all children had to take a nap in the recreation room, and even if Harry absolutely disliked naps that were a waste of time considering that he could use the time to play with his friends, he usually behaved for Ginny's sake. The teacher was very nice to all of them, and Harry liked her a lot.

HP

At the beginning of the school year, in which the children turned four, they received children's wands and were taught easy charms and spells along with Muggle primary school knowlege. The class had now grown to eight children, since some of the older students at Hogwarts, who knew about the preschool class, had suggested to their parents to let their younger siblings attend the class.

Harry liked all of the children and enjoyed himself greatly, especially since he knew from his memories at the Dursleys, which he regularly received while he was sleeping, how bad his situation at the primary school had been in his former childhood. Only during the last summer, his parents had sat down with him and explained to him that he received these memories because he had been big before and that the memories were about what had happened during his first childhood.

Harry did not really comprehend the explanation, since he could not remember having been big before; however, he just accepted the matter with the memories as a fact, instinctively knowing that there was nothing that he could do about it.

Much too often for his parents' liking, Harry woke up in the morning feeling unwell or sick because of his former life at the Dursleys. His parents were horrified. Seeing bad memories were one thing, but being physically affected by them was a much worse case.

Harry learned soon to hide his ailments from his parents in order to not make them sad, like they were upon realising that he had again been affected by bad memories, and in order to not miss school, which he absolutely loved.

HP

Whenever Hermione and Severus had time during the weekends, the small family made a trip to The Ink Pot, their favourite bookshop in Muggle London, which they visited at least every time they went to Diagon Alley.

One day, the small family once again visited The Ink Pot, since Harry had received a book voucher for his fifth birthday. Harry excitedly ran ahead, knowing exactly where the shelf with his favourite books was situated. The Ink Pot was a Muggle bookshop; however, the owner was a Squib, and the shop possessed a huge magical division that was separated from the rest of the shop by a secret door that was invisible to Muggles. Harry was just about to open the door, when he heard a girl ask her parents where that door led. He stopped dead in his tracks and observed the conversation between the girl and her parents.

"There's no door sweetie," the mother replied, and both adults looked at their girl in apparent concern.

"No, there's a white door, and I want to know where it leads," the girl insisted, stomping her foot.

Harry immediately liked the girl. She had bushy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes like his mummy. "Come, I'll show you. They have great books. I love that part of The Ink Pot," he offered, holding out his hand for the girl to take.

The girl, who seemed to be about the same age as himself, smiled and laid her hand into Harry's. Completely ignoring her parents' protests, she allowed herself to be pulled into the magical section.

With excitement, Harry showed the girl the shelf with the children's books, and the two children enjoyed themselves greatly. To Harry's surprise, the girl did not know that she was a witch, and she had never heard of Hogwarts. However, she listened eagerly to his explanations.

"How do you know that I'm a witch?" she then asked, curiously, only to add, "I think it's true, because only last week I changed my teacher's hair purple because she didn't give us any homework. I didn't do it on purpose though."

"Then you did accidental magic if it wasn't on purpose," Harry explained smiling. "My name's Harry by the way. Harry Granger-Snape."

"Nice to meet you Harry. I'm Maya," the girl replied, returning the smile. "Maya Scott. I'm five."

"I'm five too," Harry said, before he was interrupted by his father's voice.

"Harry, how dare you bring a girl into the magical section although her parents are Muggles? You must not reveal the magical world to Muggles."

Harry looked up in shock. Never before had he seen his father so angry, at least not at himself. _'What did I do?'_ he wondered. _'I only brought Maya here and told her that she's a witch. She's so happy about it.'_

"I'm sorry sir. It was my fault," Maya suddenly spoke up. "I wanted to know what was behind the door, and I'm very happy that Harry told me that I'm a witch and showed me so many interesting books."

"Your mother is talking to Maya's parents," Severus continued, and Harry realised in relief that his voice had lost some of its earlier rage. "I suggest that we join them. Follow me."

Maya grinned at Harry and quickly slid her hand into Harry's, before the two five-year-olds followed the professor out of the magical section and into the tea chamber of the bookshop, where Hermione was just explaining about the magical world to the stunned Muggles.

HP

"My parents were as shocked as yourselves, when one of the Hogwarts professors came and explained to us about the magical world," Hermione told Maya's parents. "However, knowing that I was a witch and not just totally crazy made me very happy, and at Hogwarts, I finally found friends for the first time in my life."

Harry and Maya sat there, quietly listening to their parents' conversation with a combination of relief and anxiousness.

_'I hope the Muggles will accept that she's a witch and allow her to attend classes with us,'_ Harry thought. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his head and, without further pondering the matter, he stared at the girl, summoned his magic and thought, _'I want her to not be separated from me.'_ He pushed as much magic as he could into the thought and only stopped when he began to feel incredibly tired. At the same time, he felt happier than he had been ever before. _'It must have worked,'_ he thought, contentedly, letting out a huge yawn, just when his parents agreed with the Scotts to have Maya attend Harry's class at Hogwarts.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for reviewing... and for your most interesting guesses (Marauders' Map) :D. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

"How is Maya going to get to Hogwarts? Will she attend classes with us tomorrow?" Harry asked his parents, feeling very tired but also excited at the prospect of having Maya join his class.

"Tomorrow afternoon, your father will fetch her and her parents with a Portkey, so that Maya can get used to this way of travelling," Hermione explained, patiently. "We're going to show Hogwarts to them, as they surely want to know where their daughter will spend the days, considering that she's only five and not eleven like the students are when they come to stay here."

"Can I show Maya Hogwarts?" Harry asked, excitedly. "Please Mummy, I promise to be very good."

"Why not?" Hermione replied, smiling.

"If you take your watch with you and see to it that you're on time for dinner, you may," Severus agreed in a no-nonsense voice that told Harry that he had to be on time. "Wait for us in the entrance hall after the last afternoon class," he instructed his son.

HP

Unfortunately, if Harry had been feeling unwell after using too much magic the previous day, the following morning, he felt hot and cold and was unable to hide from his mother that he was not his usual self. Hermione eyed the child in concern, noticing that his cheeks were unnaturally flushed.

"Harry, are you ill?" she asked in concern, quickly placing a cold hand on his forehead.

"I'm fine," Harry replied a little too fast.

"Let's make a detour by the hospital wing and ask Aunt Poppy to check on you," Hermione decided, recalling that Severus had already said that Harry wasn't his usual self and wondered if the child was getting ill after spending an hour in the lab brewing a potion together after their excursion to London.

HP

"He has completely depleted his magic, has a bad headache and is running a temperature," Poppy informed her. "I'm going to keep him here for the day."

"He depleted his magic?" Hermione repeated in complete surprise, giving Harry a questioning look. "Did you cast any magic yesterday?"

Harry merely nodded, not wanting to explain in front of Aunt Poppy what he did at The Ink Pot. He spent most of the day asleep. In the afternoon, he begged Poppy to let him go; however, the Healer insisted that he still had to remain where he was.

"The next time when you cast magic, you just have to be careful to not use too much magic," she said in a stern voice. "I'll probably let you go in time for dinner," she added.

Sadly, Harry lay back and tried to sleep again. However, all of a sudden, he could sense that Maya was very happy. _'She's going to come here soon,'_ he thought and scrambled out of bed. He quickly dressed himself, glad that he found his clothes, and went in search for Aunt Poppy.

"Aunt Poppy, Maya is going to arrive soon. I need to go now," he informed her and dashed away, before the Healer, who was just busy with a group of students who had hexed each other, knew what happened.

HP

To Harry's relief, Severus had been too busy the whole day to attend any meal in the Great Hall and was unaware of the fact that Harry was supposed to be with Poppy. He allowed the two children to roam the castle on their own, once again reminding Harry to be on time for dinner.

_'Ah, I really need to learn a time spell,'_ Harry thought, groaning inwardly. He disliked his wrist watch and usually did not bother taking it with him. As soon as the adults were out of sight, he called Dobby. When he had been very small, Hermione had introduced Dobby to him and told him that whenever he needed help, Dobby would be there for him.

Dobby appeared with a loud pop. "What cans Dobby dos for Master Harry and Harry's best friend?" he queried.

"Maya, this is Dobby," Harry introduced his friend to the girl. "He's an elf and a great friend." Turning to the elf, he asked him to alert him when it was time to head to the Great Hall."

Dobby agreed and vanished with another loud crack.

"He's funny," Maya commented.

"Yes that's true. All right then, let's go," Harry replied and showed the girl the Astronomy tower, the library and their classroom, before the two children decided to further explore the castle.

Suddenly, they found themselves in a completely dusty corridor. "Harry, let's go back," Maya said, frightened, causing Harry to obey immediately.

_'At the next opportunity, I'm going to check out where this corridor leads,'_ he resolved as he led the girl back towards the library.

"Harry, I don't know why but since last night I can feel if you're happy or not," Maya suddenly spoke up. "Are you all right? You were very sad today."

"Yes, I could feel that you were happy earlier," Harry recalled and, glancing around to make sure that no one was nearby, he admitted about using wish magic to make sure that they could study together. "Maybe I put too much magic in my wish," he said, shrugging. "I hope it's all right with you."

"Of course Harry, I'm very happy about it," Maya reassured him, just when Dobby arrived to fetch them for dinner.

HP

As soon as they entered the Great Hall, Harry saw from the corners of his eyes that his parents were glaring at him. He quickly led Maya to the children's table, glad that he could at least enjoy dinner before having to fear a scolding from his parents.

And the scolding he received. After dinner, while Severus took the Scotts back home with the Portkey, Hermione led Harry back to their quarters.

"Get ready for bed. Your father and I will come and speak with you in a few minutes," Hermione instructed the boy.

Harry quietly walked into his room. He didn't care if his parents would - for the first time in his life - punish him; however, he felt miserable because of having disappointed his parents.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, sobbing, when his parents entered the room, wearing very stern expressions.

"Harry," Severus was the first to speak up. "Yesterday, we did not punish you, although you did something really bold when you alerted Muggles of the magical world. Today, however, you were very naughty again. You're already five years and old enough to know that you have to follow the rules."

"This doesn't only mean rules made by Dad, myself and Ginny, but it also applies if Aunt Minerva, Aunt Poppy or any of the teachers tell you something," Hermione added, before Severus continued again.

"When you're in Aunt Poppy's care, you must not release yourself, especially since your condition is not as good as that of other children due to your inadequate former childhood." He waved his wand at an empty spot on the wall and conjured a device like the Hour glass in the entrance hall, however, only with two sections. "From now on, you will receive strawberry points if you do something good like assisting me in the lab and plum points if you do something bad," he explained, knowing that his son loved strawberries and greatly disliked plums. Seeing Harry look at him in apprehension, he decided, "For today you will receive two plums."

Harry observed, horrified, how two plums appeared in the glass on the right side. He lay down and turned to the wall, not wanting to let his parents see his tears.

"As soon as you're well enough, you may help in the lab and make up for the plums," Severus promised in a soft voice, causing Harry to nod, feeling slightly consoled.

"Good night sweetie, sleep well," Hermione said, gently tucking him in.

"Night," Harry whispered, already drifting off into an exhausted sleep.

HP

During the rest of the week, Harry was neither allowed to do magic in class nor to assist his father in the lab. _'Why do they have to make such a fuss?'_ he thought in annoyance. _'Preparing ingredients doesn't afford any magic.'_ Nevertheless, he enjoyed himself greatly, happy that Maya attended classes together with him and his friends.

Knowing that Harry had many friends among the students all over the different Houses, his parents usually allowed him to do as he wished between the end of classes and dinner, under the condition that he was on time for dinner in the Great Hall, where he was also allowed to sit at a House table of his choice.

After saying good-bye to his friends, Harry pondered which House he should join this afternoon, when he suddenly recalled the deserted corridor that he had discovered together with Maya a few days ago. _'I'll go and check it out,'_ he decided and headed in the direction of Ravenclaw, knowing that the corridor had not been far from the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.

_'I want the corridor to be clean,'_ he thought, without using his wand as he knew that he wasn't allowed to use his wand if not for an emergency for the rest of the week.

He smiled when the dust vanished from the unused corridor and eagerly walked ahead in order to explore the unknown territory.

HP

While windows occupied the left side of the corridor, on the right hand side he could see paintings interrupted by a few doors. He hesitantly opened the doors one after the next, revealing unused classrooms behind the first two doors. When he stepped through the third door, he realised with a combination of surprise and excitement that he found himself in what seemed to be a very old office.

"Hello my child," the voice of a woman greeted from behind himself, and Harry quickly turned around to see who was talking to him.

"Hello Madame," he replied, anxiously looking at a beautiful woman in a life size portrait. "Is this your office? I'm sorry for coming here. I just wanted to look around, and the door was open..." He slowly trailed off.

"There's no need to be sorry my boy," the lady informed him. "I'm Rowena Ravenclaw, and this is my office. I'm glad you finally found it. You must be the heir of myself and my husband Godric Gryffindor."

"Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor," Harry mused aloud. "Aren't you the Founders of Hogwarts?"

"Yes dear," Rowena confirmed, smiling, "together with our friends Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. Feel free to use my office and quarters at any time. The whole corridor belong to the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor quarters. No one but our heirs and their spouses are able to see our rooms."

"But how could your students come to your office if they couldn't see the corridor?" Harry asked in confusion, knowing that his parents' students could see their offices but not their private quarters.

Rowena smiled. "That's a good question dear," she replied, gently. "It's possible to charm one room or more as well as parts of the corridor so that a certain group of people is able to see and enter it."

Harry glanced around the office, which was decorated in a simple yet beautiful way. Apart from books, the shelves as well as the walls were full with ravens made from all kind of material. "I like your office," he said, when a huge painting behind the desk caught his attention.

_'Oh wow, this is great,'_ he thought, eyeing the painting with amazement. However, before he could ask Rowena about it, Dobby popped up in front of him.

"Master Harry, you musts comes to the Great Hall immediately," the elf informed him, and Harry felt himself being popped away.

_'Oh no, I couldn't even say good-bye to Rowena,'_ he thought, horrified, as he headed over to the Ravenclaw table. _'I'll go back tomorrow. I must look at the painting again,'_ he resolved, not having a clue about how much that painting was going to influence his future activities.

When he went to bed after dinner, he still thought about the beautiful office that he had discovered. _'I won't tell anyone about it,'_ he resolved. _'Oh well, maybe Maya and Mummy and Daddy. Too bad that Fred can't see the corridor,'_ he mused. The question why Maya had been able to see the corridor when they explored the castle on the previous day and if she would be able to see the office and the painting never crossed his mind.

_tbc..._

_A huge thanks to the kind people who reviewed!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

During the following days, Harry was not able to return to Rowena's office. Fred's mother was at St. Mungo's for the birth of her third baby, and while Fred's three-year-old sister Roxanne was spending the week with her Granny Molly, Harry's parents had agreed with George Weasley, who had to look after his joke shop until the early evening, that Fred could remain at Hogwarts with Harry for a few days.

The two five-year-old boys were very happy and extremely enjoyed their free time together. Suggesting to explore the castle, Harry once took Fred to the unused corridor; however, upon realising that Fred wasn't able to see it, he pulled him back quickly.

It was merely by chance that Harry discovered that Fred was able to do wish magic like himself. One day, Harry stumbled over Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's old cat. When Harry scrambled up from the floor, muttering something like "stupid cat," the cat suddenly changed to a neon green colour.

"I didn't do that," Harry blurted out in shock, causing Fred to laugh.

"I just wished her green," he admitted, grinning.

"I can do wish magic too," Harry admitted in a small voice, "but no one is supposed to know."

Fred remained thoughtful for a moment, before he showed Harry a mischievous grin and suggested, "Let's do a game."

"What game?" Harry queried with interest, causing Fred to giggle and explain the rules.

"That's a great idea," Harry immediately agreed to his friend's suggestion, ignoring the voice that spoke up from the back of his mind to remind him to only do magic that his parents would approve. "Leave out my parents, okay?" he added as an afterthought.

"All right," Fred agreed, grinning. "Let's go to the Great Hall, so we'll be there early."

The two friends took their seats at the children's table, knowing that it would be easier to pull through with their plan from there than if they were seated at one of the House tables.

Under the teachers' watchful eyes, one after another the students who were already sitting at their tables transformed into various kind of animals.

"Dunderheads," Severus commented dryly, causing Harry and Fred to chuckle.

Now even two of the teachers were transformed into parrots, before the Headmistress changed into a dark blue raven.

'Harry, if that's your doing, please stop it,' Severus instructed his son, telepathically, just when Minerva transformed into her cat Animagus form and back into her human form.

Luckily, dinner appeared on the tables an instant later, so that Harry could unobtrusively inform his friend about his father's instruction.

"All right let's count then," Fred replied, smiling as he began to list up, thoughtfully. "Two points for me for Aunt Ginny and Professor Longbottom, three points for you for the Headmistress, thirteen points for me for the students at the Gryffindor table and fifteen points for you for the students at the Ravenclaw table. How many are those? You're better at Maths than me, Harry, count."

"Seventeen for you and eighteen for me," Harry finally replied, smiling happily.

"Oh damn you won," Fred said, sighing. "We have to do that again sometime."

Harry grinned. _'Yes, that was fun,'_ he thought, trying hard not to chuckle in order to not attract any attention. "I wonder when it'll wear off," he suddenly whispered, noticing that some students were still in their animal forms.

"Don't worry," Fred whispered back in a soothing voice, "Professor McGonagall will easily be able to transfigure them back."

"Yes, that's true," Harry agreed and relaxed, observing in relief how the Headmistress rescued the students from their predicament a few minutes later.

HP

On Monday the following week, Harry hurried to the Ravenclaw quarters, as soon as his friends had returned home after class. He excitedly greeted Rowena in her painting, before he turned around to look at the painting that had caught his attention the other day.

In the painting, a young witch was standing in the middle of a cozy room that was surrounded by comfortable looking sofas in dark blue colours. She was waving her hands at multiple musical instruments that were standing in front of her, some on the floor, others on stands. When he leaned closer to the painting, he could hear faint music, which sounded beautiful in his ears.

"Excuse me Madame," he asked Rowena, "what are these music instruments, and how is it possible to play them with magic?"

Rowena let out a long sigh, before she replied, thoughtfully, "From the left to the right there are a harp, a violin, a flute, and I'm not sure what the two on the right side are. My daughter was able to play them all, and yes, with magic. I don't remember if it was by a spell or charm, sorry my boy, but I can't help you with this."

Harry gave her a disappointed look. "That's a pity," he said, regrettably. "It sounds beautiful, and I'd love to be able to play."

Rowena gave him a soft smile. "In that case, I suggest that you do some research. My daughter Gwendolyn knew to play. She is the girl in the painting; however, she doesn't speak at all. She's angry with me and has been since almost one thousand years."

Harry glanced at the woman in the painting, when Rowena continued, "But you can ask her. Maybe she'll be willing to help and teach you."

_'I'll try in any case,'_ Harry thought and stepped in front of the painting. "Madame Ravenclaw, may I disturb you for a moment?" he asked, politely.

The young witch looked down at him and smiled. "Welcome to the Ravenclaw quarters my youngest heir," she said much friendlier than Harry had anticipated, if he had expected her to reply at all. "I can teach you how to play; however, I'll have my conditions, and they won't be easy to fulfil," the Founders' daughter informed him.

Harry looked at the witch with anxiousness. "I'm sorry Madame, but what do I have to do?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow.

Gwendolyn smiled. "First of all, you need to do some research about the Ravenclaw - Gryffindor family during the time when I lived. Then come back and we'll speak again." With that the witch quietened and turned away.

Harry was just about to ask where he could find such information, when he realised that she had begun to play her music instruments again and was not likely to talk to him anymore. He said good-bye to her and her mother, before he left the room, wondering where he should begin to search, in the library, the Ravenclaw common room or further in the corridor of the Ravenclaw quarters.

A glance at his wrist watch showed him that he didn't have time for either of the options, as dinner was going to commence in a few minutes. _'I'll speak with Mummy and Daddy about it,' _he resolved, as he entered the Great Hall, deciding to have dinner at the Ravenclaw table.

HP

Every evening after dinner, Harry used to take a bath, before he had to go to bed. Usually, he spent some time playing with his water animals, not only because it was fun, but also because he managed to prolong his bed time that way. On this evening, however, he hurried to get into bed, as he wanted to tell his parents about Rowena Ravenclaw's office, the painting, Gwendolyn Ravenclaw and her request.

"I knew that you were the heir of Gryffindor, but I didn't know that it automatically makes you Ravenclaw's heir as well," Hermione spoke up with a combination of surprise and amazement. "I didn't know that the Founders were married with each other."

"That's interesting indeed," Severus agreed, before he asked, thoughtfully. "I'd believe that it would be the best to search for information in the Ravenclaw - Gryffindor quarters, however, I don't want you to go there just by yourself, and none of us will be able to accompany you."

Harry let out a long sigh, before a thought crossed his mind. "Dad, Dobby can accompany me. He came to Rowena's office to look for me earlier."

His parents grudgingly agreed that he could further explore the Founders' quarters, provided that Dobby or their own house-elf Cicero was with him.

HP

"There's something else that we'd like to speak about with you," Hermione spoke up, glancing at her husband. Seeing Harry cast her a curious look and Severus nod with a small smile playing on his lips, she continued, "Next summer, you're going to become a big brother."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you going to have a baby like Fred's mum?" he enquired in absolute delight.

"Yes sweetie," Hermione replied, smiling at the enthusiastic boy. "It's going to be a girl, and we hope that you'll help us find a name for her."

"I will," Harry promised, happily. "Can I help care for the baby?" he then enquired.

Severus smirked, as he replied, "Yes son, we hope that you'll help a lot with your little sister."

"Yes, oh mummy and daddy, I'm so happy," Harry said, smiling back at his parents.

"We're happy too," Hermione assured him, gently placing a kiss on his cheek.

HP

"As to our earlier conversation, I just thought of something," Severus once again returned to their previous topic. "Perhaps you could also talk to the Grey Lady?"

Harry gave his father a questioning look, mouthing, "The Grey Lady?"

"Have you never seen her?" Hermione blurted out, surprised because Harry seemed to know everything about the castle so well. "She's a ghost, and her real name is Helena Ravenclaw. She must be Gwendolyn's sister if I'm not mistaken."

"Oh is that the ghost of Ravenclaw?" Harry enquired with excitement. "Then I know her. She often comes to the common room, but I haven't spoken with her yet. I'll do that tomorrow."

HP

However, in the morning, something happened that made Harry forget about his intended research for a while. He had breakfast together with a group of Slytherin first-years and enjoyed himself a lot, especially since everyone was talking about the first Quidditch match of the season, Slytherin versus Gryffindor, which was supposed to take place on the next Saturday. Harry loved Quidditch, and he knew that he was very good at catching the Snitch. He had so much fun that he completely lost track of time and missed his teacher leave the Great Hall.

_'Oh no, Ginny has already left,'_ he suddenly realised and hurriedly left the Great Hall, stumbling out onto the grounds behind the young witch. To Harry's surprise, as soon as he stepped outside, a relatively small owl approached him and handed him a letter. _'Who'd write a letter to me?'_ he wondered, considering that all the people he knew were around him anyway. However, as soon as he accepted the parchment from the owl, he felt a strange pull behind his navel and was whisked away.

_'A Portkey,'_ he thought, horrified, remembering how a Portkey worked from the few times he had been on holidays with his parents.

By the time the movement stopped and his vision became clear again, he found himself in the middle of what seemed to be a forest. A few times, he had accompanied his father into the Forbidden Forest to collect berries and other potions ingredients; however, his surroundings did not resemble the forest near his home in any way. This forest mostly seemed to consist of maple trees, as far as he knew. _'Where am I, and why am I here?'_ he wondered, terrified. _'I want to go home to my mummy and daddy.'_

_tbc..._

_To the few kind readers who reviewed the last chapter: Thank you so much for feeding my muse. You have no idea how much it means to me!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Before Harry could further explore his surroundings, a red-haired man stepped in front of him.

"Hiya Harry," the man addressed him in a not unkind voice. "Do you remember me?"

"No sir," Harry replied, anxiously, although he knew as much as that the man had to be one of Fred's family, since they all had the same kind of red hair.

"You're supposed to be Ginny's fiancé and my best friend, not little Fred's," the man continued, his voice turning into anger, "just like Hermione's supposed to be my wife and not that of the greasy git."

"I'm sorry sir," Harry stammered in absolute confusion. _'What does he want?'_ he thought, frightened.

"Don't you remember having come here living in that hut with Hermione and me?" the man queried, sounding upset. "I saved your life over and over and helped you vanquish You-Know-How. Ginny and I were good enough to help you fight your war, risking our lives for you, but now you don't need us anymore and just push us away. You're an ungrateful, pampered brat."

Too stunned to reply, Harry merely stared at the man, terrified.

All of a sudden, the man raised his wand and pointed it at Harry, muttering a spell that Harry could not understand. "This will help you remember," he hissed. "Enjoy yourself indulging in your old memories." With that he apparated away, leaving the five-year-old alone in the forest.

HP

With that a flood of memories entered Harry's mind, and his headache that had been pestering him since the early morning, became unbearable. He someone managed to drag himself over to the hut, where he sat on the ground, leaning his achy head against the wall, before he felt his mind slowly fade from consciousness, overwhelmed by the amount of memories.

It was a few hours later that Harry's mind turned back to awareness. However, he felt miserable with a tremendous headache, was shivering violently in the cold autumn air, and was overwhelmed by the memories after seeing years of his first childhood with the Dursleys. _'Mum, Dad, help me,'_ he thought, feverishly, in spite of knowing that his parents wouldn't be able to hear his wish.

However, all of a sudden, a small voice penetrated his mind. 'Harry, is that you?'

'Yes, I need help,' Harry thought back. 'Mummy?'

'No Harry, sorry, I'm not your mum. I'm Maya,' the voice replied immediately. 'What happened to you? Where are you?' she then asked.

'Someone brought me somewhere in the forest and left me here near a hut. Can you ask my Mum and Dad to help me? Perhaps they know how to find me.'

'Hold on Harry. I'm going to talk to your parents,' Maya replied in determination, causing Harry to lie down in relief and exhaustion.

_'Why can I speak with Maya but not with Mum or Dad?'_ he wondered, impatiently waiting for Maya or his parents to talk to him again.

HP

Horrified, Maya addressed Ginny. "I need to speak with Harry's parents quickly," she said and relayed what Harry had told her.

To her surprise, the teacher paled visibly, before she said in a relatively calm voice, "Wait here Maya, I'm going to contact them both through the Floo."

'Harry, Ginny is just contacting your parents,' Maya quickly informed Harry, telepathically.

A few minutes later, Hermione and Severus stepped into the playschool classroom. Ginny and Maya accompanied them to the recreation room in order to have some privacy, before Maya informed the horrified parents what had happened to Harry.

"Let me contact him," Severus spoke up, gently laying his arm around his wife's back upon seeing that tears welled in her eyes.

'Harry, can you think back to me? If so tell me exactly what the place where you are looks like,' he thought to his son. However, he did not receive a reply.

"You somehow seem to be connected," he said to Maya, shaking his head in surprise and confusion. "Ask him if he can relay the memory of what happened to you."

HP

Harry summoned as much magic as he could, thinking, _'I want Maya to see my memory so she can show it to Mum and Dad.'_ He felt his magic leave his body, before he drifted off to unconsciousness again.

HP

While Ginny returned to her classroom, afraid that it was her own brother Ron who had done something to the child out of his abnormal jealousy, Severus carefully entered the five-year-old's mind and watched the memory.

"It was Ronald Weasley," he said, grimly, as he pulled off. "But I think I know where he is. I'm going to fetch him. I'll be back in a bit."

"No Sev, I'm not going to let you go alone," Hermione replied in a no-nonsense voice. "Let's go together." She thanked Maya profusely and accompanied the girl back to the classroom, before she stepped into the fireplace after Severus to floo to the Three Broomsticks in order to apparate from there.

"Let me show you the memory first, so we can be sure that you mean the same place," Severus said in a soft voice, causing chocolate brown eyes to lock into onyx orbs.

"Yes, that's the hut where we lived for a few weeks," Hermione said, sighing in exasperation. "Ron and his stupid jealousy." Before Severus could even reply, she apparated away.

HP

Hermione realised with slight relief that Severus popped up right next to her. Together they hurried over to the boy, who was lying in front of the hut, unmoving.

"Is he all right?" she asked in concern, while Severus waved his wand over the boy.

"So far he's in a deep sleep. I hope that he won't go into come," Severus replied, quietly. "Let's take him home with my emergency Portkey." He pulled out a chain from under his robes, before he knelt down next to the boy and pried the child's finger against the pendant. As soon as Hermione held on as well, he muttered the incantation in order to take his family to the hospital wing at Hogwarts.

HP

When Poppy was through checking on Harry, she said in a grave voice, "We can't prevent him from getting back all his memories of his first childhood. Severus, I suggest that we wake him up for a moment, so that you can enter his mind and watch together with him, considering how bad his first childhood was.

"Of course," Severus agreed immediately and instructed Hermione, "Inform Minerva and have her cancel my classes for the time being. I'm going to be with Harry."

As soon as Harry's eyes began to open due to the enervate spell that Poppy cast at him, Severus whispered, "Legilimens" and entered his son's mind. He stood behind his five-year-old son and spoke up in a quiet voice. "Harry, Mummy and I have told you that you grew up before, haven't we?"

"Yes," Harry replied, reaching out for his father's strong hand.

"The man who cast the spell at you earlier was your friend in your first childhood, and he's upset because your older self decided to not be friends with him this time. He wanted you to have back all the memories of your former childhood, but having these old memories doesn't mean anything. Nothing is going to change. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Dad," Harry confirmed, feeling slightly consoled.

"If you have questions, you can ask me, Harry. I'll be here with you the whole time," Severus promised, causing the edges of Harry's mouth to pull upwards.

"Thank you Dad," he said in a soft voice.

Just when father and son finished their conversation, Harry's first day at Hogwarts commenced. Severus quietly explained to his son that he had to behave badly towards him in class in order to keep up appearances. "Harry, you won't be able to understand all of this right now, but we'll speak about the matter again when you're older," he promised. "Just believe me one thing." Seeing that his son looked at him in expectation, he continued, "You mummy and I both love you very much, and we're both very happy and proud to have such a wonderful son."

HP

Watching the memories lasted until late at night and ended with the scene, in which Minerva and Severus found the de-aged Harry along with his letter.

Severus carefully ended the Legilimency spell and lay down next to the boy, observing his son in concern.

Very slowly, the boy woke up, revealing green-brown orbs that locked into his own. "Thank you Daddy for being with me the whole time," the child spoke up. "Do you think it was good what I did?"

Severus' eyebrow raised in surprise. "Yes son, I believe that it was very good."

Harry smiled and nestling deep into his father's embrace, he drifted back into a real sleep, feeling very much reassured by his daddy's words and his presence.

HP

In the morning, Harry insisted to attend class, and Poppy and his parents grudgingly let him go, however, he received the instruction to return home right after the end of his class in the afternoon.

_'So much about doing research about the Ravenclaws,'_ Harry thought, as he obediently walked home. On the other hand, there were several memories, about which he wanted to speak with his parents, and especially after having seen how bad his first childhood was, he felt very grateful towards his parents for allowing him to have such a happy childhood this time.

HP

When he came home, his parents were waiting for him in the living room and motioned him to take a seat.

"Harry," Severus began to speak in a soft voice, "I can imagine that you have a lot of questions from the memories which you were forced to view yesterday." Seeing Harry nod, he continued, "Your mother and I believe that it might be better to put the memories that disturb you mostly into a Pensieve in order to get rid of them for the time being."

"Yeah, that's better," Harry agreed immediately. With some of the memories he felt extremely uncomfortable, especially everything concerning the war that had taken place in his former childhood.

HP

Hermione stepped over to the shelf, in which she had placed everything that had belonged to the older Harry, including his Pensieve.

"Daddy will help you put everything in here," she said in a soothing voice, as she placed the Pensieve on the table.

During the following hour until dinner, Severus and Harry placed a huge amount of memories into the Pensieve.

"Thank you Daddy," Harry finally said. "This helped a lot." He hesitated for a moment, before he asked in a quiet voice, "Don't you regret having become my parents?"

Hermione and Severus stared at the child in shock.

"Harry," Hermione was the first to speak up. "Don't ever think such a thing. We have blood adopted you, so that makes us your real parents, even if only in addition to your birth parents. But we love you as if you were our own child."

"You ARE our own child now," Severus added, giving his son a comforting nod.

"Are you feeling up to attend dinner in the Great Hall?" Hermione queried, explaining, "Professor McGonagall offered to excuse us if you prefer to remain at home tonight."

"No, I'm fine," Harry replied, deciding to sit together with the Slytherin Quidditch team that was always very funny.

HP

It was later the same evening that Harry was afraid to fall asleep, scared that he would receive more memories while he was sleeping. Through the half-open door, he heard that his parents were having tea with their colleagues. He didn't mean to eavesdrop; however, he became alert when his Daddy asked, "What shall we do about Ronald Weasley? He must be punished for what he did to Harry."

Harry heard his granny let out a long sigh, before she began to speak. "Severus, yesterday evening, something happened. You won't be able to do anything against Ronald."

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for feeding my muse. You have no idea how much it means to me!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

"And why might that be?" Harry heard Severus ask in apparent surprise.

"Molly Weasley visited me this afternoon," Minerva replied in a grave voice. "Apparently, Ginevra has told her what Ronald did to Harry, and she came to apologize."

"It's not her fault in any way," Hermione threw in.

"Yes, that's what I said to her," Minerva agreed. "However, Molly Weasley also told me something else. When Ronald came home from work last night, he suddenly didn't remember anything from the point onwards, where he left for the Hogwarts Express at the age of eleven. Apparently, someone attacked him on his way back from work and cast a strong memory charm at him. They spent the whole night and morning at St. Mungo's and Ronald is still there; however, the Healers told Mrs. Weasley that most likely they won't be able to reverse the spell."

"But who would do such a thing?" Hermione spoke up in apparent surprise.

Minerva sighed again, before she replied, "Mrs. Weasley suspects Ginevra. However, she told me that she could understand her daughter if it was her and that in that case she wasn't going to do anything about it. She told me it was bad enough that probably Ronald's life was ruined and that she had no intention to ruin Ginny's as well. She seems to expect that George will offer Ron a job in his joke shop, considering that Ron has lost all the memories of his complete Hogwarts education and won't be able to work as an Auror anymore."

"He deserves what happened to him," Severus broke the silence that followed Minerva's words.

Harry had not understood everything; however, he comprehended that Ginny had done something to her evil brother to revenge him. A small smile played on his lips, as he quietly entered the living room and climbed onto his mummy's lap.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Hermione asked in a soft voice, looking at him in concern.

However, she did not receive a reply. Nestled deep in her robes, with his teddy tugged under his left arm and his right thumb in his mouth, Harry drifted off to sleep instantly.

"Such a cutie," Luna blurted out, looking dreamily at the child.

HP

During the following weeks, Harry still felt unsure enough to return straight to his parents' quarters after the end of his class in the afternoon.

In the meantime, they had found out that it had indeed been Ginny to send her brother into oblivion and that Ron would probably never be able to receive his lost memories back. Nevertheless, his abduction had been such a frightening experience for the five-year-old that Harry just needed to feel safe.

Although he had got rid of his worst memories by putting them into the Pensieve, there were still many memories about which he wanted to ask his parents. _'Thank Merlin that Mummy and Daddy knew me so well when I was big that they can recognize them all,'_ he thought, feeling very much consoled by his parents' understanding. In order to not have Harry ponder too much over the old memories, however, Hermione and Severus resolved to speak about three memories at the most every day, decide afterwards if to put them into the Pensieve or not, and then have Harry assist in the lab or otherwise occupy him until dinner.

Harry absolutely loved brewing potions with his father and, since Severus had begun to teach him from the age of three onwards, he was already able to flawlessly brew the most common healing potions that were needed in the hospital wing by himself.

HP

Too soon for Harry's liking, the school year was over and the summer holidays began. _'It will be so boring without my friends,'_ he thought, when he rode the carriages together with the students to Hogsmeade. However, when he walked back together with the teachers, he realised soon that he wasn't going to have much time being bored.

"Harry, Ginny offered to continue teaching your class over the summer, even if only during the mornings," Minerva informed him, smiling at his enthusiastic expression.

"That's great," Harry said, happily, wondering if his friends already knew about the matter. _'Strange that no one said anything about it,'_ he thought, remembering the sad faces of his friends after their last class on the previous day only too well.

'Maya, have you heard that classes are going to continue next week?' he thought to his friend, to whom he was still able to communicate telepathically.

'Yes Harry, earlier today we received a letter from the Headmistress,' Maya replied, likewise enthusiastically. 'I'm so happy.'

'Me too,' Harry thought back, smiling.

"Furthermore, I'd like you to come to my office on one or two afternoons," Minerva continued to speak, bringing him back to reality. "I don't know if you remember being a phoenix Animagus during your first time at Hogwarts..."

"Yes, I've seen that," Harry replied eagerly. "Will I be able to change into a phoenix again?"

"I'm sure you'll be able to do that my boy," Minerva replied in a soft voice, giving him a proud look. "Since it's too dangerous for you to practise on your own, I'd like to teach you."

"Could I also become something else instead?" Harry asked, hesitantly, causing Minerva to cast him a surprised look.

"You're a cat Granny, and Mummy's a cat, and Daddy's a lynx, so if I became a cat as well, I'd be able to speak with you all," Harry blurted out, grinning.

"That's true," Minerva replied, thoughtfully. "However, it's much more difficult to become a phoenix, and since you're able to achieve the Transformation, you probably should do so. There's one more big advantage that the phoenix has," she continued, noticing that Harry eagerly followed her lips. "If you ever happen to find yourself in a dangerous situation ever again, as a phoenix, you can just easily flash away, which wouldn't be possible with a non magical Animagus form."

"Oh yes that's right," Harry immediately agreed and resolved, "I'll try to become a phoenix again. Thank you Granny for teaching me."

They agreed that Harry should follow the Headmistress into her office every Wednesday and Saturday right after lunch.

HP

Apart from attending classes, Harry was busy helping his parents with his little sister, who had chosen the second day of the summer holidays to be born. Everything happened very quickly, and when Harry woke up in the morning, his father was sitting on the edge of his bed, informing him that his little sister Lily had been born two hours ago.

"May I see her?" Harry asked eagerly, scrambling out of his bed in excitement.

"As soon as you're dressed and have eaten breakfast, we'll go and visit them," Severus agreed, smirking.

However, instead of running into the small kitchen as fast as he could, Harry sat on the sofa in the living room, putting a tissue on the table in front of himself. Severus eyed his son in surprise, before understanding set in when the tissue was transfigured into a white teddy bear.

Harry stared at the teddy for an instant, before a smile replaced his expression of pure concentration. "It plays music," he informed his father, lightly pushing the teddy's left hand. At another push of the teddy's hand, the music changed; however, it was an equally soothing piece of music, very fitting for a baby. _'Maybe pink's better for a girl,'_ he thought, and once again staring at the teddy, he changed its colour to a light pink.

"That's enough Harry," Severus said, sternly. "You know that your body can't handle as much magic as you are able to cast."

"Okay Daddy," Harry replied, casting his father a genuine smile.

HP

Twenty minutes later, he happily followed his father to a small room at the back of the hospital wing. His eyes widened upon seeing the baby that was lying on his mummy's stomach. "Is that my sister?" he asked in disbelief. "She's very tiny."

Hermione and Severus couldn't help laughing. "All babies are so small sweetie," Hermione replied, gently pulling the boy close.

Harry carefully laid the teddy next to the baby and said, "That's for you Lily, I made it myself."

"Thank you so much Harry," Hermione replied on behalf of her daughter who continued to sleep peacefully.

HP

Even if Harry became quickly used to his sister's size, he found her extremely boring. "She doesn't do anything but sleep," he complained to his friends, causing Fred to chuckle.

"All babies sleep much, at least girls," his friend informed him, and he had to be the expert, considering that he had two small sisters.

"Wait two months Harry, and then she'll be more alert," Severus told him the same afternoon, when father and son were brewing in the lab together. "By the way, have you made any progress in your research about the Ravenclaw - Gryffindor family?"

Harry stared at the Potions Master in shock. "No Dad," he admitted in disbelief. "I completely forgot about it."

Severus smirked. "That's what I thought," he said in clear amusement.

"I'll go to the Ravenclaw quarters tomorrow right after lunch," Harry resolved, thinking, _'I can't believe how I could forget that.'_

HP

Harry hurried to the corridor, in which Rowena's office was, hesitantly passed in front of the office and curiously opened the next door. He stopped dead in his tracks holding his breath upon the sight in front of him. The room was almost as large as the castle's library and even looked similar. It was full with bookshelves that reached from the floor to the charmed ceiling and were only interrupted by charmed windows and mirrors that made the room very bright. He liked the room immediately. However, the thought _'How am I supposed to find anything here?'_ crossed his mind.

He slowly walked along one of the shelves, noticing that there were titles that were easy to understand and others that did not give him a clue as to what the respective book was about. When the long shelf finally ended, he found himself in what seemed to be the centre of the room. It was occupied by a round, wooden table with a couple of chairs around it. The area was surrounded by charmed windows and mirrors in a way that when Harry sat down on one of the chairs he had the impression as if he was sitting outside on the grounds, just between the lake and the Forbidden Forest. _'This library is just great,'_ he thought in amazement. _'It even smells as if I was outside on the grounds. The only problem is how to find something.'_

His face scrunched in thought, he tried to recall a spell for gathering certain information from the knowledge that he possessed from his first childhood. However, except for the Accio spell he could not remember any incantation that could work for his purpose. _'And Accio probably only works for things not for information,'_ he thought, seeing an image of one thousand books flying towards him at the front of his mind. _'I better leave it and ask Mum and Dad if they have an idea,'_ he resolved. _'Pity that they can't come here. Mum would absolutely love this place.'_

After enjoying his surroundings for a few more minutes, he decided to leave the library and check out the next door. He felt slightly disappointed upon realising that the following three doors led into bedrooms. After a glance, he left the respective rooms, consoling himself that there were at least two more doors to explore.

Just when he laid his hand on the handle of the next door, Maya's voice penetrated his mind.

'Hi Harry, what are you doing?' she queried.

'Hello Maya,' he replied, feeling very happy at the unexpected contact. 'I'm exploring the Ravenclaw quarters,' he explained. 'Do you remember that we found the unused corridor some months ago?'

'Yes,' Maya thought back in apparent confusion. 'Does that belong to Ravenclaw House?'

'No, not to the House but to the Ravenclaw family,' Harry replied, noticing that his head began to hurt.

'I'd love to explore together with you,' Maya suddenly said. 'It's so boring at home, now that I'm used to having classes until the afternoon.'

Harry smiled, as he enquired, 'Why don't you ask your parents if you can stay here tomorrow afternoon? Then we can explore together.'

'I'll do that,' Maya promised, sounding much happier than before.

'Good,' Harry thought back, before he quietened, knowing that his headache would become worse by using telepathy. _'I'll just leave the two last rooms for tomorrow. It'll be more fun to explore them together with Maya,'_ he thought and slowly made his way home, where he helped his mother bathe the baby.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for feeding my muse!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Hitting the Right Note - Sequel to "Final Straw" **  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Harry decided to first show Maya Rowena Ravenclaw's office and introduce her to Rowena and Gywendolyn.

"Hello dear and welcome to my office," Rowena replied in a kind voice, while Gwendolyn did not as much as look up from what she was doing.

"Professor," Harry hesitantly addressed Rowena, "is Maya also your heir, or why is she able to be here with me?"

The Founder smiled in her portrait, before she replied, gently, "No my boy. She's able to see our quarters because of being your betrothed."

'What is betrothed?' Harry mind thought to Maya, who returned a confused look.

'I don't know Harry,' she thought back. 'Let's ask your parents later on.'

"All right," Harry agreed, aloud.

HP

"I really like the painting with the music instruments," he admitted, when they left the office. "It's just a pity that Gwendolyn doesn't speak to us. Only once she talked to me." Seeing Maya look at him in expectation, he explained, "She wants me to help the Ravenclaw family. The problem is that I don't even know what they need help with let alone what I'd be able to do for them at all."

"Let's see if we can find any information in their quarters," Maya suggested and eagerly followed Harry along the corridor.

_'If I show Maya the library now, maybe we won't have enough time to look at the two last rooms,'_ Harry thought, resolving to leave out the library for the time being. He led the girl to the second last door and carefully opened it, revealing an ancient looking living room. They hesitantly stepped into the room and looked around with interest.

"Hello children," a baritone voice greeted them. "What are you doing in our quarters if I may ask?"

Harry and Maya frightened glanced around, and Maya quickly slid her small hand into Harry's.

"Awww, little ones," a girl's voice could be heard, and when Harry and Maya looked behind the door, they saw a huge painting. Harry recognised Rowena as well as what seemed to be her husband along with four elder people, another witch of about the same age as Rowena and two children, a girl and a boy.

"Hello, sorry for intruding your quarters," Harry shyly addressed the people in the portrait. "I'm Harry and this is my friend Maya. Professor Ravenclaw allowed us to visit your quarters. I must do some research for Gwendolyn in the music painting."

"Godric, I told you about the boy, didn't I?" Rowena addressed her husband in apparent exasperation, before she turned to the children. "Don't let Godric frighten you," she said in a soft voice. "He doesn't mean it. In fact, he's very bored and happy to have visitors like everyone else here." With that she introduced her and Godric's parents as well as her sister Roxana, her daughter Lucy and her son Melvin.

The children said hello to everyone, before Harry asked in a small voice, "Excuse me Madame, but where's Gwendolyn?"

Rowena let out a long sigh, before she explained, "Gwendolyn and Helena refuse to join us in the painting."

HP

Before Harry could enquire about the reason, a phoenix flashed into the room, taking a seat on the back of a chair.

#Children?# the phoenix trilled, shaking his head in clear annoyance. #Aren't they much too young... Oh no,# he suddenly interrupted himself, fluffing his feathers in obvious surprise. #Harry, is that you? Since when are you a nestling again?#

_'Fawkes?'_ Harry wondered. Somehow, he knew that he had seen the phoenix before. "Fawkes?" he queried in a small voice.

Godric chuckled. "This is Fawkes indeed. However, he's also my phoenix familiar and has already been the familiar of Great Merlin. He has a very bad mouth though."

"I'm living at Hogwarts together with my parents and my baby sister," Harry introduced himself, "and this is my friend Maya. She's attending the playgroup together with me."

#Did you decide yourself to get your wings clipped and become a nestling again?# Fawkes enquired, giving Harry a curious look.

"Yes," Harry replied in a small voice, not wanting to reveal his secret in front of Maya and his ancestors.

"Do you understand Fawkes' babbling?" Godric queried in apparent surprise, causing Harry to nod.

_'Maybe because I'm going to become a phoenix Animagus,'_ Harry thought.

"You've made yourself rare my friend," Godric said to Fawkes, who fluffed his feathers.

#Since the old grumpy one went through his burning day several egg turns ago, there's been nothing for me to do but to wait for the nestling. Today, I'm going to bond to him. He surely deserves it.#

"What can such a small child have done to deserve it?" Godric asked, staring at the phoenix in disbelief. "How old are you?" he asked, turning to Harry and Maya.

"We're five," Maya was the first to reply, glancing at Harry.

#He's the owner of the Elder Wand,# Fawkes informed the Founder. #Before he clipped his wings, he got rid of the evil one, you know whom I mean.#

_'Fawkes is going to bond with me?'_ Harry thought in surprise. _'Does that mean that he's going to be my familiar like he was Dumbledore's in the past?'_

Suddenly, Fawkes' voice penetrated his mind. 'I took the liberty to bond with you. I'm now your familiar.'

"Thank you Fawkes," Harry replied aloud, suddenly feeling very happy.

"I'm sorry for talking so long. Do you want to explore the next room?" he asked Maya, worried that she might be bored by the conversation that had to be difficult for her to follow considering that she neither knew about his past nor was able to understand phoenix talk.

"It's fine," Maya replied, smiling. "I love this room, it's beautiful." Slightly hesitating, she turned to Rowena. "Professor, is it all right to look around for a bit?"

"Of course dear," Rowena replied, smiling at the eager girl.

When Maya was finished closely inspecting the chamber, Harry and Maya bid the people in the painting as well as Fawkes good-bye and left the room.

"I love the old furniture. It looks so simple but pretty," Maya confided, when they stepped out into the corridor.

Harry had to admit to himself that he didn't really give the furniture a close look.

HP

The next room was the music room, which Harry had admired so much in the painting in Rowena's office. Comfortable looking chairs were arranged in a circle, and in front of each of the chairs a music instrument was waiting for someone to come and play. Two life size portraits overlooked the room from the wall opposite the door.

"Hello," Harry and Maya said, slyly looking at the young ladies in the paintings.

"We're Maya and Harry, and we want to look around a bit," Harry said, hesitantly, recognizing Gwendolyn in one of the portraits.

"Hello dears, I'm Helena and over there's my sister Gwendolyn," the woman in the other painting greeted them.

"How nice of you to visit us here," her sister added, before she turned to Harry. "It's a while since I asked you a favour. Have you been able to do some research?"

"I'm sorry," Harry replied in a small voice. "I was busy plus I don't know how to find out more about your family. I can read but not well enough to find something in the library. It's huge, and I'm only five."

"Then you better come back in a few years' time," Gwendolyn replied and left her portrait in a huff.

"Oh Gwen, give it up," Helena scolded her sister, before she turned to Harry and Maya. "Don't mind her. She's in a bad mood today." She remained thoughtful, before she continued, "I can help you and tell you some things, but not here, because Gwen would be very upset with all of us. Can you look for me in my ghost form?" she queried, looking at the children in expectation.

"Yes, I will search for you in your ghost form," Harry promised, just when Dobby popped into the room to fetch the children in time for dinner.

HP

Later when Harry was in bed, Maya thought to him, 'Harry, something is strange about the Ravenclaw - Gryffindor family. Why do they have portraits in different rooms and don't visit each other?'

'I'll try to find the ghost tomorrow. Can you stay here after class and come with me?' Harry replied, drifting off to sleep with a smile on his face after hearing her positive response.

HP

Only after Harry had fallen asleep, Fawkes flashed into his room and made himself comfortable on the back of the chair behind the boy's desk. In the morning, Harry woke up to Fawkes' trilling and smiled happily.

"Hello Fawkes," he greeted his new familiar. "Thanks for coming."

#Hi nestling,# Fawkes replied, giving Harry a mischievous look. #Could you ask a house-elf for a perch and some food for me please?#

"Oh right," Harry replied and hurriedly called Dobby, who eagerly promised to see to the phoenix' needs.

HP

"Fawkes," his parents blurted out, simultaneously, equally surprised when Harry stepped out of his room with the phoenix lingering on his shoulder.

"Fawkes decided to become my familiar," Harry informed his parents, wondering how he could have forgotten to relay the fantastic news in the evening.

"Congratulations Harry," Hermione said warmly. "This is indeed wonderful news."

"Indeed," Severus agreed, smirking, before he turned to Fawkes. "Just to remind you, Fawkes, neither my wife nor I are as keen on mischief as Albus was. I appreciate that you became our son's familiar, however, please behave yourself."

#Yes yes, young grumpy one, I'll try,# Fawkes promised, fluffing his feathers in annoyance.

"He will," Harry translated, knowing that no one but himself could understand the bird's talking.

HP

During the following days, Harry and Maya searched for the Ravenclaw ghost in vain. Harry even asked his parents, the Headmistress, the Ravenclaw Head, Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron; however, no one could tell him about Helena's whereabouts.

"Maybe she's hiding somewhere, but she'll surely come out again at the beginning of the school year," Luna told her disappointed godson in a soothing voice. "She often comes into the common room."

"Yes I know," Harry replied, letting out an impatient sigh. _'I'll just have to wait,'_ he thought, _'but I really want to learn to play the instruments.'_

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and he asked his mother, "Mum, should I ask Fawkes if he can flash to Ghost Helena?"

Hermione remained thoughtful for an instant, before she replied, thoughtfully, "Fawkes would surely be able to find her; however, if she wanted to speak with you, she'd come to see you. I believe that it's better to wait."

"All right Mum," Harry replied, smiling, as he allowed his mother to pull him onto her lap and cuddle with him.

HP

During the remaining weeks of the holidays, Hermione and Severus kept Harry busy. Every afternoon, Harry was allowed to assist in the Potions lab, where his father brewed potions for the hospital wing. Afterwards, he helped his mother to bathe Baby Lily. The now two-month-old was more alert and remained awake for longer times, and she greatly adored her big brother. She was a bright baby who used to smile at everyone; however, her biggest smiles were always reserved for Harry.

Even when school commenced again, Harry returned home right after classes in order to help Hermione with Lily during the hour before dinner. However, one day, Ghost Helena floated into his way, when he was just about to return to the Granger-Snape quarters.

_tbc..._

_A huge thanks to the kind readers who fed my muse by reviewing!_


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